Niisan
by Setsuko Yukimura
Summary: Sasuke looks back into his past. . .


The full moon shone brightly as the trees swayed in the cool breeze. Sasuke was perched on a branch high up in an old oak tree and just below was the Akatsuki hideout cleverly concealed among the was his usual hiding spot since Taka became allied with the Akatsuki. Sasuke often disappeared to hide in his tree, to escape from the rest of humanity. Taka often had their disagreements with the Akatsuki, especially Suigetsu, and the stress often became too overwhelming for even Sasuke.

He slowly began to drift as he stared intently up towards the moon, and the view from the tree slowly faded into the view of his backyard back in Konoha. The sun shone joyfully and the cool morning air was filled with birdsong. Sasuke found himself sitting on the porch almost as if he was waiting for something.

"What am I doing?" he thought to himself, as it struck him that he didn't quite sound like himself. He sounded younger, alot younger. As if to answer his question, a very young looking Itachi came up the walkway. Sasuke jumped up and ran towards Itachi.

"Niisan!" yelled the younger Sasuke as he leapt excitedly around his elder brother. Itachi responded with a warm smile and pat on the head.

"There's something wrong." Sasuke thought, He didn't want to do any of this, He hated Itachi more than anything else and yet something was forcing him to act so kind towards him, as if he had no clue of what Itachi had done to their clan, to him.

the sound of the door sliding open interrupted Sasuke's thoughts. His mother was standing there beckoning the two of them inside. She was alive, Mikoto was alive.

Sasuke felt ready to cry.

"Snap out of it, this is obviously some sort of illusion or dream" But he couldn't help it, it had been just about ten years since Sasuke had last seen his mother.

"Come on inside you two, dinner's ready." Sasuke followed Itachi inside eagerly, walking almost as if to match Itachi's exact footsteps. They had all been seated around the small table and began eating.

"So how was your day dear?" Mikoto asked to break the silence.

"Nothing new really. . ." was Itachi's response. Their father Fugaku, across the table from Sasuke, seemed to add a sort of pressure to the air, making everyone feel nervous and awkward. Despite this, dinner was over quickly. Mikoto got up and collected the dishes, placed them on the counter, then rushed out of the room. Sasuke focused on the threshold and soon his mother returned holding up a large cake with four candles flickering on top of it. Sasuke felt overjoyed at the sight of the it, He remembered it now, this was the day of his fourth birthday. The evening continued exactly as it did the first time, twelve years ago. It came time that Sasuke was presented with his birthday gift. He tore the wrapping off with ease to find a ball. Now this may seem somewhat silly, but at this point in time a ball would mean hours of enjoyment to the four year old Sasuke.

He eagerly skipped to the yard and began to kick the ball around, Itachi soon joined in. The two played till the sun began to set, and for the first time in what felt like eternity, Sasuke felt happy. He welcomed the tears of joy and forgot everything. This game of ball, this little source of joy in a life of hate, became everything. Instead of hating Itachi, Sasuke could only see the times that he was his best friend, his greatest comfort. Sasuke wanted to stay in this dream forever. He didn't want to return to the cruel reality. Lost in his thoughts, sudden pain struck Sasuke as the younger him stumbled on the ball and fell into the pond, scraping his knee badly.

The ball was sent under the porch, far our of reach. Their father, who had just been called for a mission, gave Sasuke nothing but a scornful as he passed through the yard. Itachi had dashed under the porch and retrieved the ball, and was standing over Sasuke. with a sympathetic grin Itachi placed the ball in Sasuke's hands and pulled him up onto his feet. He helped Sasuke over to the porch where they sat side by side.

"Why am I such an Idiot? " whined Sasuke, wiping the tears from his eyes. Itachi's smile faded slightly.

"Sasuke, don't say that." Itachi sounded almost offended.

"But. . ." Sasuke was interrupted.

"But nothing Sasuke, even the best ninjas make mistakes. That's all that was." Itachi said comfortingly.

Sasuke's eager grin soon returned as he looked up to his older brother.

Suddenly, the scene changed, an older Itachi was standing there in front of him, covered in blood. The rock around him crumbled as the black flames burned persistently in the distance. This scene was so familiar, it had just happened near a month ago, and despite the terrible events that unfolded there underneath it, the sun still shone brightly as if nothing was wrong. Itachi reached forwards, focused on Sasuke's face. He cringed as Itachi jabbed him in the forehead and fell to the ground, lifeless.

Sasuke awoke in the big oak by the Akatsuki hideout again. He found himself crying as he looked towards the moon.

"Itachi. . . I'm so sorry. . . "

END


End file.
